This is an investigation of Interior and procedural elements of International Criminal Courts.

An attempt to deconstruct and decode the physical and performative program of the International Criminal Court (ICC), in The Hague. This involves mapping and understanding the historical cannons of International Court spaces – Nuremberg, ICTY, ICTR+ - to identify patterns within the spatial and performative order of these legal spaces.

This historical line is interpreted in relation to the ICC. ICC is a loaded site where structures of international law are materialised and enacted. It operates upon a set of conditions, relationships, co-ordinated actions and physical systems of social, cultural and political orientation. The court space is an analogue and digital platform of power - not a neutral space – bodies are directed, organised, arranged and positioned within this scheme and subjects are produced in relation to the law (Peace and justice).

An affective lens, considers not only the characteristics of these spaces, but foregrounds how these arenas influence patterns of behaviour, perception and experience. The body and the production of subjectivity under the law (Peace and Justice) is central to the approach.

Ianis, Konstantina and Nejma focused their research on the binary rhythms of security within the ICC. They noticed a consistent paradox between physical and digital security - as if the institution was torn between the ideas of high security and transparency. Beyond the multiple physical security checkpoints, sensible information - such as witnesses’ names - flowed out of the tanked courtroom and was posted to twitter. As designers, they wanted to give this leaked digital information a tangible weight.

Their performance and installation activates the path from the entrance of the ICC building to the entrance of the Public Gallery. It aims to depict the sensorial bodily experience of security with the ICC building while commemorating the bodies and identities affected by the complex mechanisms of this institutional system.

Subjectivities in the Courtroom | Re-interpretation of the ICC Courtroom, A Karaoke for Justice

By decoding and analysing the behaviours in the courtroom of the ICC, Stéphane, Minyang, Hansol and Eliaenai distinguished two distinct typologies: the conscious (established, rigid, rehearsed and part of the protocol) and the unconscious, which, on the other hand, allows a place for subjectivity, a space less theatrical.

Desks, screens, headphones and technological devices which enhance control, and alienation are reinterpreted - the courtroom as a karaoke room.

* When in doubt, a Circumflex symbol is added into the live transcripts of the court proceedings, to indicate the need for revision.

A court is a scene of doubt, aiming to produce a judgement. As it filters evidence, it is transduced. Transduction determines what it means to encounter information in a specific event. It concerns less the nature of information than how it is made present; how it is brought before the senses so it can be assimilated. The analogy of a whisper game allows us to understand the idea of facing a stream of information. As it is expressed in different forms, its presence is altered. Any translation involves a tension between the context and what one focuses on.

In the ICC, the crime and the existence of bodies that hurt, is undeniable. But in this inter-lingual environment, the testimonies and gestures are stretched through interpretation.

Circumflex is an installation that brings the transparency and complexity of translation to the sensory and highlights the gap between words and reality.

The rigidity of definitions around Peace and Justice has Consequences. What if legal definitions were expressed Word-by-word, changing outcomes incrementally? Can an Exquisite Corpse interrogate the legal definitions that appear so foreign to many outside the City of Peace and Justice?

The Exquisite Corpse is a game that glues together fragments, conversations and stories. This unpredictable form of collaboration goes by many names in, in many different parts of the world.

Through their research, Aline, Domitille, Yanjin and Michael used this process in creating ‘blind’ interactions with a select group of contributors to establish an ongoing and unexpected conversation about a topic that often intimidates and excludes participants.

Their Exquisite Corpse is a process that runs on a cycle where on complete ‘corpse’ is produced and displayed after every six contributions. The initial process appears quiet and subdued but is soon revealed to part of a much broader conversation taking place between a wide range of voices.

They hope this platform and process will be a useful tool in enabling others to confront issues around international law and the definitions of peace and justice.